TV for Environment Japan (TVE) has announced the release second 5 chapters of their new environmental TV documentary, “Hopper Race”, 10 stories, with each one about 7-8 minutes long. The first 5 chapters were launched in November 2012 at the International Rice Planthopper Conference and the synopsis of the film and the film trailer in YouTube are available. The film is now ready for translation and distribution in the Asia-Pacific region. The film is about rice pest management, particularly rice planthoppers that have been causing extensive crop damages and have become a big problem economically and socially in many Asian countries. This film will be a powerful educational tool to promote sustainable agriculture and to increase biodiversity in rice landscapes.

In announcing the release, TVE Japan, in cooperation with TVE Asia Pacific, held a workshop at Chaophya Park Hotel on 25 January 2013 in Bangkok to discuss and finalize in-country plans to disseminate the film throughout the Asia Pacific region. Workshop participants included TVE Japan’s partners in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Group picture

At the opening, Mr. Shukichi Koizumi, chairman of TVE Japan underscored the role of the video in sustainable agriculture. He said that although the hard work for 3 years putting the film together is completed, it is only the beginning of the next phase of dissemination. Mr. Kenichi Mizuno, executive producer, TVE Japan, spoke on the making of the video and thanked partners and institutions that facilitated its production, particularly the International Rice Research Institute. Ms Juka Kawaii discussed the “versioning” and distribution plans for the documentary and outlined the guidelines and criteria in customizing the program. The expected outputs in 12 months will be translated versions of the films in at least 6 Asian languages, VCDs produced and distributed, the film broadcast over TV educational programs and in other training programs. Other workshop resource persons included Drs. K.L. Heong of IRRI, Monina Escalada of the Visayas State University, Mr. Kukiat Soitong and Pornsiri Senakas of the Thailand Rice Department. Dr. Heong discussed the plant hopper problem in Asia and emphasized its importance to the sustainability of rice production and the need for policy engagements to reduce insecticide misuse through structural reforms in plant protection services. Dr. Monina Escalada presented the use of entertainment-education principles and process in biodiversity conservation, highlighting the on-going award winning TV series on ecological engineering broadcast by TV Vinh Long in the Mekong Delta. Mr. Kukiat and Ms. Pornsiri presented the Rice Department’s efforts in dealing with the brown planthopper outbreaks that have caused massive crop losses and miseries to thousands of farmers in Thailand since 2008.

Bees provide valuable pollination services as well as produce honey and are seriously threatened by the neonicotinoids.

Bees provide valuable pollination services as well as produce honey and are seriously threatened by the large scale use of neonicotinoid insecticides.

Neonicotinoids are relatively new insecticides being strongly marketed in rice for planthopper control. These include insecticides with active ingredients, imidacloprid, thiamethoxan and clothianidin. In Asia these insecticides are sold either singly or in mixtures marketed in hundreds of trade names. Recently evidence has mounted further that these three insecticides are strongly linked to colony losses and bee disorders and subsequently to loss of pollination services. Two recent publications in SCIENCE and NATURE and about 50 other studies published in specialist scientific journals over the past 2 years all show a consistent pattern of high risk to bees in normal use of neonicotinoids. These chemicals are not only mass killers of bees during spraying and uses as seed dressing, but long term exposure to residue levels in pollen and nectar disrupt the colony and are major factors in weakening bee colonies. SCIENCE report. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has identified risks to bees even if the products were used in seed treatment especially in corn and oil seed rape. For all other seed treatment applications and granular applications, data are still lacking to establish conclusively if it is safe enough while there are indications that it is potentially of high risk. France banned seed coating of sunflowers in 1999 and for maize in 2004 and banned thiamethoxam for oil seed rape. Italy has completely banned all seed coating with imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, clothianidin and fipronil from 2008. Slovenia did the same in 2011. The European Parliament in 2012 published “Existing Scientific Evidence of the Effects of Neonicotinoid Pesticides on Bees” and concluded that the risk to bees of normal applications of neonicotinoids is not acceptable and current European risk assessment methods by authorities are seriously flawed. In January 2013 the European Commission announced that steps are being taken to phase out these 3 neonicotinoids for all applications that pose high risks to bees ((http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/25/us-eu-pesticides-idUSBRE90O0WM20130125). The European Environmental Agency published a report with a chapter on neonicotinoids and bees (chapter 16 of http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/late-lessons-2 ) pointing out that the scientific facts about the risks to neonicotinoids to bees have been ignored by policy makers for more than 10 years.

The three neonicotinoid insecticides are widely distributed in ASEAN from Indonesia, Vietnam to Thailand and even in Myanmar. Recently the Philippines launched a product with thiamethoxan as one of the components, popularly promoted in Indonesia. The properties of thiamethoxan are similar to that of imidacloprid and planthoppers have shown to rapidly develop cross resistance (see Matsumura et al 2009).

The rice ecosystem is richly endowed with a huge biodiversity of hymenopteran parasitoids that are being heavily threatened by the three insecticides.

The rice ecosystem is richly endowed with a huge biodiversity of hymenopteran parasitoids (e.g parasitic wasps) that are being threatened by the 3 insecticides. Hymenopteran parasitoids are extremely important players contributing to pest regulatory services. Parasitoids are generally smaller and have to move about to hunt for prey and thus are more vulnerable to these insecticides. In ecological engineering fields where bunds were populated with nectar rich flowers to provide resources to parasitoids, planthopper populations were suppressed. These 3 insecticides are likely to impair the pest regulatory services provided by the parasitoids.

Several ASEAN countries are now actively promoting ecological engineering to reduce vulnerability of intensive rice cultivations to planthopper outbreaks. There is thus need for research, private sector and government policy makers in ASEAN countries to dialogue and initiate a process to regulate and restrict their use especially in agricultural areas dependent on parasitoids and in areas of honey and fruit production to avoid potential detrimental effects on agriculture. With these pesticides being banned or restricted in Europe and China, the main manufacturers, and pesticides being sold as FMCGs (fast moving consumer goods), the spread of use and misuse of these pesticides will be very fast and threatening to agriculture. Pollination and biological control ecosystem services are agriculture’s most important regulatory services. IRRI working with German universities recently started a landscape study of these services in a project called LEGATO that will provide valuable research information on the threats to pollination and biological control.

The egg parasitoid in action attacking planthopper eggs captured on video is available.

The three insecticides are available in the market either singly or in cocktails under hundreds of trade names. Some common ones include Actara, Agite, Alika, Adage, Centric, Cruiser, Flagship, Meridian, Platinum, Vifone, Virtako, Gaucho, Admire, Merit, Poncho, Votivo, Confidor, Solomon, Provado. Many local names are given to mixtures using these three insecticides and many more product names in Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian.

Myanmar is blessed with rich soils and biodiversity that can contribute to sustainable rice intensification through better management of the ecosystem services. Early exploration showed that the arthropod biodiversity is especially rich and worth conserving. Insecticide use although at a minimum is still much misused with spraying of the wrong chemicals for the wrong pest. For instance farmers are often encouraged to practice prophylactic spraying of organophosphates. A recent survey showed that most insecticides used by farmers are either banned or obsolete in developing countries. Of particular concern are the strong attitudes of farmers towards using insecticides. In Vietnam farmers’ insecticide use were found to have doubtful productivity gains. Given the poor equipment that Myanmar farmers have and poor knowledge, there is potential threat of widespread misuse when Myanmar’s economy opens up in the next few years. Rice production in Myanmar for the moment is quite free from pest and disease problems and rarely suffers from planthopper outbreaks and whenever they did they had been closely associated with heavy insecticide applications. Since BPH outbreaks are caused by disruptions to ecosystem services, the need to retain minimal insecticide application in Myanmar in order to prevent outbreaks is of importance.

Ecological engineering fields were surrounded with sun flowers and other nectar rice flowers to provide nectars sources and shelter for natural enemies and they are not sprayed with insecticides.

Ecological engineering (EE) concepts were introduced into Myanmar to develop sustainable pest management strategies in July 2011 . EE involves both increased biodiversity through using plants on the bunds and conserving biodiversity through reducing unnecessary insecticide usage. In 2012 we initiated experimental fields in Nay Pyi Daw and in Hmawbi to compare ecosystem services in EE fields and production fields. The EE fields (1.2 ha each) had no insecticide sprays and were surrounded with sunflowers and other nectar rich flowering plants grown on the bunds. The production fields received 2 prophylactic sprays of dimethoate on 30 and 60 days after transplanting and the bunds were not populated.

New sweep sampling

Arthropods were sampled twice using the D Vac suction sampling device and net sweeps. This report discusses the biodiversity analyses of the cumulative net sweep data. All arthropods sampled were grouped into functional groups, herbivores, predators, parasitoids and detritivores. Figure 1 shows the proportions of individuals in each functional group. Predators and parasitoids were proportionately higher in the EE fields in both sites.

Proportionate abundance of the 4 functional groups in ecological engineering and farmers’ fields.

Changing landscapes in Korea’s rice ecosystems with bunds of other crops, like sesame, soya beans and flowering plants.

Rice has always been and continues to be an important food crop for Korea. In the past, to ensure high rice production, the government subsidized inputs, like fertilizers and pesticides, rice prices and conduct intensive pest monitoring to issue instructions to farmers and exercise mass spraying. Recently however in recognizing the importance of environment and sustainability, the government enacted several agricultural policies that had changed rice landscapes, farmer practices, pesticide consumption and pest situations. From the 1960s to late 1980s, emphases were on production increase (Green Revolution) with strong government drive and heavy fertilizer and pesticide use. From the 1980s the Korean rice consumption declined from 120 kg/capita/year in 1980 to about 70 kg in 2010 and the government started to discourage rice farming and support sustainability. In late 1990s the government adopted clean production and environmental friendly agriculture (EFA) policies (Table 1).

To implement EFA the government established the infrastructure for EFA promotion to farmers. EPA farmer cooperatives were supported and a certification system for EFA products was set up. Marketing and promotion of EFA products were enhanced.

Environmentally Friendly Agriculture (EFA) Division established in the Ministry of Agriculture

1998

Environmentally Friendly Agriculture Promotion Act (EFA Act)

2001-2005

First 5 year Plan to promote EFA

2006 -2010

Second 5 year Plan to promote EFA

2010

Insect industry promotion act

With the implementation of EFA, rice production transformed. Pesticide and fertilizer subsidies were terminated. Instead the government started a drive for clean production and no pesticide use. Pesticide distribution and marketing regulations were revised and implemented together with promotion and incentives to farmers for conservation. Figure 1 shows the increase in clean crop production from 2000 in Korea.

Fig. 1. Increase in area of agricultural production under organic agriculture, less pesticides and no pesticides from 2002 to 2010.

As a result of the pro environmental policies and government efforts to implement EFA, fertilizer and pesticide use in rice dropped significantly (Figure 2).

Fig. 2. Fertilizer and pesticide use in rice production from 1970 to 2010 showing significant declines.

The pest situation changed and in general had been very low in recent years. Table 2 shows the area of occurrence of the pests. Brown and white back planthoppers that are causing huge damages in Thailand and Indonesia are no longer a problem, unlike in the 1960s and 1970s. High occurrence of the small brown planthopper was reported were only confined to the west coast in proximity to China. These infestations were probably displacements by wind from China. Stemborers were reported high in 2010 but not in 2011.

Table 2: Area of pest occurrences in Korea (in ha) from 2008 to 2011.

Pests

2008

2009

2010

2011

Brown Planthopper

16,429

2,668

32,141

515

Small Brown Planthopper

18,490

78,720

8,291

101,401

White Back Planthopper

68,550

53,217

44,042

16,131

Green Leafhopper

3,269

2,106

5,585

339

Black Rice Bug

12,149

5,369

2,597

3,843

Rice Water Weevil

70,726

43,821

34,174

36,278

Rice Leaf Folder

85,176

36,162

36,741

19,448

Army worm

–

14,551

–

2,400

Striped Rice Borer (1st Gen)

7,672

2,571

10,315

4,425

Striped Rice Borer (2nd Gen)

150

1,179

8,493

3,279

Ecological engineering is being strongly promoted in China, Thailand, and Vietnam with some successes. In Korea ecological engineering has not been introduced but yet the rice landscapes have been transformed to provide floral biodiversity. Pesticides have reduced, ecosystem services improved and BPH outbreaks have become rare. This illustrates the importance of appropriate pro environment policies, government support and incentives to farmers.